TWO KILLED.ONE MISING IN MOHOTTARI Kathmandu, 7 June:: Two people have died and another is missing after they were swept away by the Dumrekhola stream at Maisthan of Mahottari, RSS reports from Gaushala. district. Those killed in the incident are 60-year-old Jayamaya Lungeli and 35-year-old Somani Jarghamagar of Maisthan VDC Ward No. 7, according to the Area Police Office, Bardibas. Panchamaya Lungeli (45) of the same area is missing, it is stated. All of them had gone to fetch water from the Dumrekhola stream late in the evening on Thursday when they were swept away by a sudden flash flood. The bodies of Jayamaya and Somani were found one kilometer downstream while Panchamaya is still unaccounted for, police said. Locals and police continued the search for the missing woman late into the night but could not trace her. nnnn ITALIAN COMPANY SELECTED TO PROCEED WITH MELAMCHI DRINKING WATER PROJECT Kathmandu, 7 June: The government on Thursday selected Italy’s CMC Cooperativa Muratori e Cementisti di Ravenna as contractor for the construction of a tunnel for the Melamchi Drinking Water Project (MDWP), Ashok Thapa writes in The Kathmandu Post. Once the firm is approved by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) — one of the major financing partners — it will be formally awarded the contract. Earlier on May 28, the ADB had shortlisted two bidders for final evaluation — the Italian firm and China’s Sino Hydro Corporation. A total of four firms, including China International Water and Electric Corporation and China Overseas Engineering Group, had been competing for the contract. The Melamchi Water Supply Development Board (MWSDB) — the project’s implementing agency — had opened the financial proposals of CMC and Sino Hydro last Monday. “The Italian company quoted some Rs 3 billion less than what Sino Hydro has quoted,” said a high-level official at the MWSDB. He said the Italian firm quoted Rs 7.72 billion, while Sino Hydro proposed Rs 20.91 billion. “However, the Italian firm has to be endorsed by the ADB.” MWSDB Director General Krishna Prashad Acharya said his office on Thursday dispatched a letter to the ADB, asking the latter to endorse CMC at the earliest. “Once the ADB endorses the firm, we will sign a formal contract,” he said. The government had floated a fresh tender for Headworks and Diversion Tunnel Construction on December 1, 2012, after the previous contractor abandoned the project midway in September last year. China Railway 15 Bureau Group had initially pulled out of the project which led the government to formally cancel the contract as disagreements over delays and fulfilment of demands came to a head. Nnnn TWO ARRESTED FOR LOAN MANIPULATION Kathmandu, 7 June: The police have arrested proprietor of Jamko Publications Private Limited Kishor Dhakal and Gauri Khanal for embezzling loans taken from Siddhartha Development Bank. Khanal is the wife of KIST Bank Managing Director Kamal Gyawali, The Kathmandu Post writes.. Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of the Nepal Police has initiated legal action against the duo as per the Banking Offense Act. The court on Thursday gave additional time to the police to take the accused under control for further investigation. Dhakal defaulted Rs 130 million in loans taken from the development bank, according to a CIB statement. Her liability to the bank has reached Rs 160 million. Dhakal had put two land plots in Rabibhawan, Kathmandu, up as collateral. He had bought the land from Khanal for Rs 120 million. The police said as the loan was provided to Dhakal, the amount was transferred to the account of Khanal in Prime Commercial Bank. While revaluating the collateral, its value was found to be just Rs 60 million. However, KIST’s Gyawali said the money was in fact transferred to his wife’s account as she had sold that land to Dhakal. He said his wife didn’t take the loan from Siddhartha. “Instead, she sold the 25 aana of land in August 2010 for Rs 120 million,” he said. After receiving the money from Dhakal, the amount was paid to Prime Bank from where she had received loans to purchase the same land. A Nepal Rastra Bank source said there is a practice of bank directors taking loans from each others’ financial institutions. nnnn